Nice to Hear Your Voice
by Belle Goode
Summary: Finding your adoptive parents dead is hard. Unable to tell someone what happened because you're mentally locked down is even harder. Will Horatio and Natalia figure out what happened before it's too late?
1. Chapter 1

**A/N: I do not own CSI Miami or any of it's characters, affiliates...etc. This is just my imagination running with it! I hope you all enjoy!**

**Chapter One**

**Did She Talk**

"What have we got Tripp?" Horatio asked the Texan.

Frank straightened, where he'd been squatting and nodded his head toward the kid. "Casey Colter, seventeen. Was at school, came home because she didn't feel good, found her adoptive parents. Hasn't said a word one since I've been here. Dialed nine-one-one, dropped the phone and curled up in a ball. They got her to stand up, but she hasn't moved since they put her there."

Horatio walked over to the girl and sat down beside where she was sitting on the brick wall that lined the driveway about two feet high. She had soft brown hair and eyes that matched almost perfectly. She had a vacant expression that suggested shock. "What's your name sweetheart?"

She didn't answer him. She didn't even move.

"Do you know anyone who would want to hurt your parents?"

Again, no response.

"I'm going to find who did this, okay?" and he put his hand on her shoulder.

There was a single tear that rolled down her cheek.

"Hey, can I get a paramedic over here?" and he stayed there. When the medic showed up, he looked back at her. "I'm betting she's suffering from PTSD. Let's get her checked out, alright?" then he looked back at the kid. "They're going to take care of you. Okay? You go with them and I'll check in with you later."

She stood, but never acknowledged he'd even said anything.

He walked back over to the detective. "When is Tom supposed to be here?"

"Now." came the voice from behind him. He knelt down in front of the husband and wife duo. They were both together, face down, blood pooled around them. "Lets see, what have we got here?" he asked himself. "Been dead about two hours. Looks like multiple stab wounds on each side of the ribs, going horizontally between the ribs and into the lungs. Four wounds on each side, bled out quickly. I need to see the body closer, but I'd bet this is rage filled. Someone that knew them. Someone was angry with them. Very angry."

Horatio looked around the house. He was right. Several valuable items lined the walls but were left untouched. There was no warning, and no clue as to why this had been done. But, that was how it normally went. It was their job to figure things like that out.

* * *

Knocking on the door to the house, he waited as the woman answered. She was in her mid to late forties, with darker brown hair than the girls, and hazel eyes that slanted just slightly upward and a small nose. "Edith Summers?" She nodded and he flashed his badge. "Lieutenant Horatio Caine. I was checking on Casey Colter?"

"Oh yeah! Come on in!" she said softly. No stranger to fosters, she knew for them to call her last minute, it was an emergency situation. "She's in good hands here."

"The paramedics said they released her at the hospital?"

"Yep. A couple of hours ago. She's been diagnosed with Post Traumatic Stress Disorder and I've been instructed to keep her as quiet as possible and keep a close eye on her. She's in the living room."

He nodded and followed her in. The kid was sitting on the couch, exactly as she'd been sitting on the brick wall at her house. Same vacant expression, same position.

She took a deep breath. "It's like, the lights are on, but no one's home. She'll do what she's asked, but she doesn't directly respond to anyone. They said that was from the PTSD and they're sending over someone to evaluate her later today. Poor girl. They told me her parents were slain."

He nodded. "She found them this morning. I'll see if I can get through to her." then he walked over to where she was and sat beside her again as the woman disappeared around the corner. "Casey?" he said softly. "Sweetheart I wanted to check on you, like I said I would."

She didn't acknowledge him.

Using what elicited a slight response last time, he assured her again. "I'm getting closer to finding your parent's killer."

This time, there was no tear. No recognition at all. "Do you know anyone that would be mad enough to hurt them like that? Nothing was taken, so we're sure it was personal. Someone who knew them." and he took notice to her breathing quicken. "Casey?"

Tears started to fall down her face as she brought her knees to her chest and started rocking where she was sitting.

"Sweetheart, I'm going to find who did this. I promise. You can trust me. If you can think of anything, you let me know okay? You can call me at any time."

He started to stand and a shaky but firm hand, wrapped roughly around his wrist. Her breathing continued to quicken and she still had a blank expression, still staring at the floor. Squatting in front of her, he put his free hand on her knee. "Casey?" Her shaky grip tightened. She was scared. Someone had gotten to her.

She tried to breathe in deep but keep taking shallow breaths. She looked into his eyes for an instant, but as soon as she did, she saw the sorrow waiting for her and saw nothing but her parents laying there, covered in blood, dead.

There was recognition for a split second. Then it was gone. She was blank again. Her grip was gone on his arm and her hand wrapped back around her bent knees. Her breathing started to even out and the tears stopped. There was something there, underneath the trauma. It was simply going to be a matter of finding it, and helping her through it.

He stood from where he was and walked into the kitchen.

"Did she talk?"

He shook his head. "However, she did grab my wrist. Which I'm actually considering is hopeful because of how tight she gripped. Did they tell you much about her past?"

She shook her head. "But it's not uncommon for them to send me information after I've taken in a foster on emergency like this."

"I understand. Could you let me know when you find out anything?"

"Sure. You seem to be able to reach her. No one else can."

He looked in at the girl, from the other room. "Well, I just want to make sure she's safe. It can't be easy for anyone to go through finding their parents on the floor like that."

Nodding this time, she agreed. "My brother killed my parents when I was eight. I'll never forget walking into that one. That's why they give me cases like hers. I didn't talk for almost ten years afterwards. Although admittedly, I knew what was going on around me."

He studied her. "I killed my father, trying to protect my mother, and she wound up dying anyway."

"I'm sorry." she said solemnly.

He shook his head. "It's alright. It was a long time ago. But I can relate too." then he looked in at her. "I just hope I can find who did this to her."

"I don't know a whole lot about police work, but sometimes the most simple answer is the right one."

"Occam's Razor." he said simply.

She nodded.

Thinking about it, he admitted, "A lot of times, it is the simplest answer. So what would be the simplest in this situation?"

She shrugged. "That, I can't tell you. I don't know her situation enough. But I'm going to do whatever I can to protect her until you can find out. She will age out in a few months, but if she needs it, I'm not going to turn her out at eighteen."

He nodded this time. She likely would need it. But that didn't always mean she would take it either. He walked into the living room, touching her shoulder softly. "I'm going to go find out who did this to you parents sweetheart. When I come back, I'll have some information for you."

No response. He hadn't expected there to be, but it still saddened him to know there wasn't.


	2. Chapter 2

**A/N: I do not own CSI Miami or any of it's characters, affiliates...etc. This is just my imagination running with it! I hope you all enjoy!**

**Chapter Two**

**She's My Cousin**

Getting back to the lab, he went straight down to the morgue. "Tom. What have we got?"

"Well, I finished with Mrs. Colter. She was indeed killed with the knife, as I'm sure I'll find with Mr. Colter. The knife was thrust at an upward angle, suggesting a small person doing the stabbing. Or a guy that knew what he was doing. These are deep. If it was a woman that did this, she had a lot of upper body strength."

"Which isn't impossible."

"Definitely not."

"Weapon?"

"At least eight inches long. Wide. Double edged and not serrated. I'm guessing hunting knife."

"Really?"

He nodded. "Absolutely. No bruise marks for the hilt, which tells me he stabbed and inserted slowly."

That really angered him. Senseless was bad enough. Intentionally inflicting pain and suffering went too far. "Alright. Keep me posted when you get to the husband."

Making his way up to trace, he stopped when he saw Natalia. "Have you got anything?"

She nodded. "Actually, I do. On the husband's shirt."

"What have we got?"

"Nail polish. Clear."

"Hmmm."

"Yeah."

"Well, it's something. Call me when you know more."

She nodded. "How's the girl?" then he gave her a curious gaze. "Tripp told me."

Nodding his head this time, he took a breath. "She's in bad shape. I want to find out who did this, if for no other reason than her."

Impossible to argue with him on that one, she watched him turn to leave. It really bothered him when kids were affected like that. That was one of the things she admired him for. His conviction to helping the weak and innocent. "I'm still running DNA. I should know something hopefully within an hour."

"Good. Thanks." and he headed out. Tripp stepped out from around the counter. "Hey."

"Hey! How's the girl?"

He shrugged. "She's with a foster. I'm waiting to hear back from her about her situation. I'm keeping close tabs on both of them until we can figure out what happened. This was personal and something about it does not feel right."

"I'll give you that. On both counts." then he was thoughtful. "Do you think the kid did it?"

He shook his head. "No. She's too traumatized. You can't fake what she's going through. Do I think it surrounds her?" then he shrugged. "I guess that remains to be seen."

Nodding this time, he continued on to his office. It was about twenty minutes later when Natalia knocked.

"Ms. Boa Vista."

"I have the epithelials from the shirt."

"And?"

"Casey's in the system because she was in the system before she was adopted. There's a familial match, to a parent." and she handed him the folder. "Her biological mother's DNA was on the husband's shirt collar."

That changed things slightly. Not by much, but slightly. Looking at the paperwork, he nodded, said thanks and stopped when she didn't move. "There's more?"

Closing her eyes, Natalia took a deep breath. "She's my cousin."

His breath stopped. "What?"

"Well...second cousin. Best I can remember, my uncle had a long lost daughter out there that he had just found out about before he was murdered. She had a daughter and well..."

"Here we are."

She nodded.

"Alright. I want you off of this from here on out. We cant use anything that comes from you from this point on. Did you know?"

She shook her head. "I had always heard about her, but I'd never met the woman, only had her name. When she came up in CODIS I noticed it immediately and called my sister just to ask her name. Not to mention the fact that she looks like my uncle so..."

"Understood." then he waited as she stood there. "Is there anything else?"

"Is she okay?"

Glancing up into the concerned gaze of his subordinate, he closed his eyes and shook his head. "She's traumatized. I'm going to go see her after her emergency foster calls me. Do you want to come with?"

Nodding softly, she took a deep breath. "If that'd be okay."

"Absolutely. I'll let you know. Until then, get Ryan to cover your post and you take the case that he's working on."

She nodded this time and left his office. Natalia's family. Wow. The words, small world, danced in his head. He could see from her expression, she didn't have a clue. He opened the folder and looked at the picture of the woman. Deborah Boa Vista-Hammond. Same soft brown hair and eyes as her daughter's. Locked up fourteen years before for child neglect and abuse. The report showed a photograph taken at a hospital of a two year old little girl, bruised and bloodied and either unconscious or asleep, he couldn't tell which.

Closing the folder before he became any more pissed off than he had been, he grabbed his office phone. "I need an APB on Deborah Hammond." he said, intentionally leaving the Boa Vista part off of her name so that he could save Natalia from any instant accusations. "I want her brought in for questioning."

Hanging up, he looked at his cell phone, almost willing it to ring, so he could hear something from Edith. Something that would give him some sort of clue into the life of the kid who was so desperate to retreat inside herself and escape reality.

Fifteen minutes later there was a call, though not from the foster. "Lt. Caine, I have Ms. Hammond in custody."

"I'll be right there." and he went straight down stairs to the interrogation room. She looked like she was coming down off of a high and was in bad need of another hit. "Ms. Hammond."

"Why am I here?"

"You here, because we found your DNA on a murder victim this morning."

"Murder victim? And who am I supposed to have killed?"

"Bryan and Anna Colter."

"The Colter's? Why would I kill them? They have my daughter."

"Why indeed. Can you explain to me why your DNA was on Mr. Colter's shirt collar?"

A sly smile touched her lips. "Bryan and I were..." and she cleared her throat, "intimate, this morning."

"Really?"

She shrugged. "He's got a healthy sex drive. Anna was too busy in her own life to worry about his needs. I helped them out."

"I'm sure that you weren't doing it out of the kindness of your heart. Did Casey know you were there?"

Her expression changed. "No. She had no idea."

"How long have you been...helping, the Colter's?"

"Since I've been out of jail. He saw me one day and well...we've been talking ever since."

He didn't believe a word she'd been saying. Staring her down and knowing he was making her sweat, he shifted. "We're done here. Don't go far."

* * *

"I can't get her to respond." the nurse said. "I don't know what's going on."

"Can you give her something?"

"Yeah if I inject it."

"She'll do anything you ask. She does what she's instructed. She just doesn't respond."

The nurse shook her red head and looked at the kid dispassionately. "Well I'll leave you something then and you can give it to her, if you're so sure she will take it."

"Why don't you stick around for a few minutes. I called someone who might be able to get through to her."

Staring at her in disbelief, she shrugged. "Fine. Lets see if this person has any better luck than me." she added sarcastically.

There was a knock on the door and Edith took a relieved breath, knowing it was the Lieutenant. She was surprised to see he wasn't alone. "Lt. Caine."

He nodded his head. "Ms. Summers. This is one of my CSI's Natalia Boa Vista. Is it okay if she sits with Casey while we talk?"

Nodding, she lead them in. "The nurse is here. She seems...frustrated." she said lowly, so that the woman didn't hear her.

"How is she?"

She shrugged. "No change. It's almost like she's on autopilot."

He nodded. "I can understand that." and he walked into the living room. She was on the couch in the same place, this time with her knees bent and legs tucked underneath her. "Hi Casey. Remember me?"

She didn't move.

"This is my friend Natalia. She's going to sit with you for a bit and talk to you. Would that be okay?"

She didn't move.

"Hi Casey." Natalia said softly then sat beside her, noticing the blank stare in the kid's eyes.

"Don't expect anything." the nurse said, irritation lacing her voice.

"You know, if you hate your job that bad, you can just consider this one done." Horatio said lowly, instantly noting the aggression. The last thing this kid needed was aggression in any form.

Everyone in the room looked up at him, except Casey.

"It's my job to evaluate the needs of people."

"And your job, is done. I could do a better job of evaluating her needs and I don't have a degree. You, can leave." and he waited as she packed up and got out. He turned to Edith. "Call the agency she came from and report her. In the mean time, you got something?"

She nodded, smiling. "It's bad to laugh, but I don't think that woman has ever been talked to like that."

He smiled himself. "Maybe if she had, she'd be a little more compassionate." then staring at the door, he shrugged. "Then again, it's possible she'll be just as hateful as she's always been, shrugging this off as nothing more than an ass hole at the last house."

Giggling a bit, she led him to the kitchen. Stopping short, she looked at the woman in there with the girl. "Will she be alright with her?"

He nodded. "She knows not to expect anything. She's just going to talk to her."

Studying the two of them sitting together she turned back to the red head. "They damn near look like family."

Did he tell her, or keep it to himself? He'd told Natalia to keep it to herself for a while, but this was different. Deciding to stick to the task at hand, he nodded and stepped to the table, where he took a seat.

Natalia looked at the girl sitting beside her. "I work with Horatio. I'm going to make sure that you're safe and that we find out who did this, okay?"

The girl swallowed, and as before with Horatio, the girls eyes cleared and there was emotion. This time though, it wasn't simply for a brief moment. She was starting to cry and she looked into the womans face. Seeing the pity there but also seeing the soft expression in the brown eyes she had, something clicked. She didn't know why, or even how, but almost throwing herself across the couch, she wrapped her arms around the warm body there and continued crying.

"Easy." Natalia said. "Easy honey. I'm not going anywhere. I'll stay right here until you're ready for me to move, or I have to leave."

Still not saying a word but hugging tighter, she breathed in as the woman's arms came around her gently, offering comfort.

"Easy Casey." she said softly again. "You're alright honey."

Shaking her head left to right, she argued silently. She wasn't alright. She wouldn't be alright. Ever. But here, she could pretend for a little while. She could pretend her parents were still alive, and not slain and waiting to be buried. Waiting to be processed by police. She'd watched crime shows on television. She knew how it worked.

When Horatio and Edith walked around the corner, they both took in the sight of the girl, wrapped around the body sitting beside her. "Natalia?" he asked softly.

She looked at him with a questioning gaze and completely unsure of how to handle the current situation. "H...I...I'm not sure..."

He gestured his hand out, cutting her off gently. "It's okay." then he squatted down in front of both of them, putting his hand on the girls shoulder, as she was still wrapped around the woman. "Casey?"

There was nothing but sobs coming from the woman's jacket.

"Sweetheart, it's okay."

Shaking her head, the crying continued. She wouldn't look at him. But she was partially responding at least. Then he noticed it. Natalia moved, just to shift, and the girl tightened her grip around the woman before taking a deep breath in, to cry harder.

Looking up at Horatio, she settled back down, putting her arm around the girl in an attempt to comfort her. "Hey, easy Casey. I was just shifting. I'm not going anywhere."

"Has she said anything?"

She shook her head. "I just told her we were going to catch whoever did this and it was like the blank stare was gone and she hugged me and started crying."

"Are you okay?"

Almost maternally, she nodded, smoothing the girls hair. "We're good. You keep talking. I'm not going anywhere."

Ducking back around the corner, he looked at the woman. "What were you able to find out?"

"Alright, when she was two, she was forcibly removed from the home and placed in foster care. She was in a couple of places before she was four when she was placed with the Colter's and adopted when she was five. When they got her, she had been pretty well knocked around and scared to really talk or anything. I guess one of her fosters had fairly sufficiently neglected her, she didn't talk for almost six months after she got there. But apparently, like we talked about earlier, it was simply a matter of not wanting to talk. Not that she'd blanked out. While it is good that she's connecting with your CSI in there, I'm worried about when you guys leave."

He nodded. He worried about what was going to happen to her when she _did_ make it out of her stupor. Not all people who came out, transitioned as easy as others did. That was what worried him. Talking for another half an hour about the girl and her past, he stood and followed Edith into the living room.

"Natalia?"

She inhaled sharply, coming back to reality from her thoughts and looked up. "Yeah."

"You alright?"

She nodded. "I think she's asleep." then she stopped when she felt something. "She was asleep." then she put her arm back down and rubbed her back. "Casey? Honey I have to go. But I promise I'll come back."

Taking a deep breath, and sitting straight up, she wrapped her arms around her knees again and started staring again. The same blank expression in her eyes.

Looking at the kid, Edith shook her head. "I don't know what it is about you and your people, but I may need you in the near future."

Studying the two of them on the couch, Natalia standing stiffly, he nodded. "We'll do what we can. You call me if you need me or Natalia. Okay?"

She nodded. "Thanks." and she led them to the door.

Getting out into the Hummer, Natalia let out a long breath. "God, H, I'm sorry. I didn't mean for that to happen in there."

"Don't be sorry. It's alright. Too bad she didn't talk to you."

"I know." she admitted, almost as if in defeat.

"That was the most reaction I've seen out of her since I first met her this morning. That's a good thing."

"Yeah." she said softly. She wished she felt as confident about that fact as she would.


	3. Chapter 3

**A/N: I do not own CSI Miami or any of it's characters, affiliates...etc. This is just my imagination running with it! I hope you all enjoy!**

**Chapter Three**

**Rock Hard and Mad at the World**

It was two days later when Horatio got a call from Edith. In that time, they'd been able to pin down two different suspects and cleared both of them. The had three more to question. "Ms. Summers. How is Casey doing?"

"She...she's not."

"What's wrong?"

"She went to school this morning and got into a fight. They're holding her now, but they're talking about pressing charges."

"Um...alright. I'll go talk to them."

"Thank you. I'm sorry. I wasn't sure who else to call."

"You know what? Don't worry about it. I'll see what I can do." then hanging up his phone, he looked around the facility. "Natalia." he called out, finding her in the DNA lab.

"Yeah?"

"You're with me."

"Alright. Where are we going?"

"To high school."

Half smiling she glanced at him. "I wouldn't relive those days if you paid me." she replied, following him out to the truck. Jumping in, she buckled up. "What's up?"

"Apparently Casey got into a fight. And it was bad enough that they're considering pressing charges and Edith asked if I could check it out. So, I figured, since you had a good rapport with the girl..."

"Wow. Alright. I'll see what I can do." She'd been checking on the girl over the last couple of days as well and even though she hadn't seen her, H had, and he'd said that she wasn't blank any more, she simply seemed sad.

When they pulled up, there was an ambulance pulled up at the entrance with lights going, still idled in the parking area. They walked in, immediately going to the right, where the front office of the school was. Flashing his badge, he was quickly led back into a private office where a quite upset Casey sat, staring angrily at the wall on the other side of the room, shaking as she sat with her hands under her legs.

"Casey?"

She turned her gaze to the man who had just said her name, her expression not changing. Her breathing seemed strained and her ability to keep the tears at bay was starting to unravel.

He glanced over at the other kid who was sitting there, his head gashed open, nose bloodied and bottom lip split and swollen. Taking everything he had to keep from laughing, he stepped toward the principal who was watching as the EMT's tended the youngster. "What happened?"

"Who are you?"

"Lieutenant Horatio Caine, with the crime lab of the Miami Police Department. This is Natalia Boa Vista." he said pointing to his counter.

"Ha!" came the kid who was being fixed up. "Crime lab? You did it this time! Nothing but trouble! You probably did murder your parents! Just like I said!"

As if happening in slow motion, he glanced at the girl sitting down and saw her spring from her seat, the first tear starting to roll down her cheek, launching herself toward the boy, not caring who was in the way. She looked like she was in an absolute blind rage, no doubt, brought on by this kids goading.

Still not uttering a single word, she made her way to him, four people standing in the way. She started throwing punches, making her way through them. She connected at least three times, not sure who she connected with, before she felt arms and a shoulder around her mid section, hands on her upper arms on her left and right side and a smaller set of hands on her face, almost all of them pushing her back and into a different room. She could hear nothing but the screaming in her head, and didn't make a sound as she fought against everyone.

"Casey! Honey, calm down! Casey!" Natalia screamed. She turned to her superior. "I don't know what to do!" she said, sounding almost as helpless as she felt.

They watched as tears now streamed down her face, but all she could do was glare at the door to the room from which she just came.

Stepping up from where he'd been, and getting right in her face, Natalia moved her hands and he replaced them, holding her face to meet his. "Casey!"

She was breathing hard, the anger rampant in her expression.

Pushing her in a quick but light jolt against the cinder block wall in the adjoining office, he screamed once more. "Casey! Dammit look at me!"

In a split second, her eyes cleared and she stared into the blue eyes that seemed to swallow her whole. Breathing deep as though she hadn't taken a breath in a week, she let it out, crying hard as she looked into his face. Feeling all the strength in her body leave her, she slid down the wall, sitting down in the floor, with her knees bent, her arms around her knees as everyone had let go. She buried her head in her knees, almost violently shaking, as she calmed herself. Scared for anyone to touch her or get close to her, she simply shut herself down, as she'd done before.

The kid looked utterly defeated. Straightening himself, he grabbed his jaw, rubbing it lightly, moving it back and forth. Looking at one of the EMT's standing there, he let out a breath.

"You need some ice?"

He shrugged. "I'm alright. Kid's got a hell of a right hook though, let me tell you." and they both smiled softly. Walking back into the adjoining office, he looked at the other one in the mix. "You're lucky son. What did you say to her?"

Taking a deep breath through his nose, he thought about making a smart ass comment, but then saw the look in the cops eyes. He meant business. Letting out his breath slowly he hung his head. "Everyone was told who she was, and all of us have seen the news. They made such a big deal about her being here and she was getting so much special attention," and he shrugged. "Some of us just rebelled."

"You keep saying some of you, yet, you're the only one in here."

"I'm the only one that stuck around when she started throwing punches." then he looked up. "That's probably because she jumped me and I wouldn't hit a girl. I feel real bad about it now."

"I'm sure you do. Though that hardly helps her."

He hung his head again. "I know."

Turning Horatio headed out of the office before stopping at the principal. "What's going to happen to her now?"

He took a deep breath, letting it out slowly. "We ordinarily have a zero tolerance policy. I'm going to have to go before the board for this one. But I can probably drop it to a three weeks suspension. I'm not going to be able to decrease it any more than that, and I'm going to have to fight as it is to keep it from being an expulsion."

"I'll go before the board and tell them it was me." the young man said softly.

He could see in the kids green eyes, that he was woeful for what had happened, now that things had calmed down. The principal looked at the kid and nodded.

"Alright. I'll do what I can and let you know what I find out."

H nodded and headed for the door. "I'll take her home." Walking out of the room, he found Natalia sitting on the ground beside her. She stood quickly when she saw him.

Seeing shiny shoes but nothing else in her vision for the moment, she felt an arm tuck under her knees and another around the middle of her back.

"Come on, Casey. It's time to go home, sweetheart." While she barely relaxed, he felt her tears wetting his neck and shirt where her eyes were now buried against the skin under his chin. "Easy. You're alright now." he murmured softly.

Carrying her to the Hummer, he put her in the back seat and buckled her up gently, then gestured to Natalia to slide in beside her.

Doing so, she buckled up herself, wrapping her arm gently around the kid. When she leaned herself into the embrace, she took her other arm and held the girls head to her shoulder. "Shhh, Casey, it's alright. I'm right here."

Horatio got in, glancing at the rear view mirror and seeing both of them. After driving in silence for a few moments, he took in Natalia's expression. "How are you two doing back there?"

She inhaled sharply and nodded her head. "We're okay."

And he noticed her fingers brush tenderly through the girls hair. She would make a good mother one day. As soon as that thought was out of his head, he internally shook it. What in the hell was he thinking? Where had that come from? "We'll be at Edith's house in a couple of minutes."

She smiled up at him. "No rush." and she rested her cheek on the girl's head as they drove the rest of the way in silence. When they pulled up at the house, she unbuckled the seatbelt and waited as Horatio got out and stepped back, opening the back drivers side door.

Reaching in, he scooped her up, not even giving her the option to walk. Natalia stepped in front and knocked, helping him push the door open when Edith left it ajar. Carrying her the bedroom, he placed her gently on top of the comforter covering her mattresses, helping her as she curled up on her side. "Easy sweetheart. You rest." Backing out, he closed the door to, heading to the kitchen where Natalia and Edith were talking.

"The boy apparently talked about her parents dying and I guess the school told everyone and..."

"Dammit!" Edith slammed her fist down. "I told them not to do that! I didn't want her to get any extra attention. That's the last thing she needs right now!"

"I agree." Horatio said from behind them both. "She's been suspended for the next three weeks, with a possible expulsion pending. The principal is going to go before the school board along with the kid that pushed her into throwing punches, and see if he can keep the expulsion from happening."

Natalia glanced up at him. "Your jaw is bruising pretty good there. You really should put some ice on it."

He instinctively reached up, rubbing it, a small smile playing on his lips again, and shaking his head he finally responded. "I'll be alright."

"What happened?" Edith asked quietly.

"The kid that teased her, started teasing her again. She started swinging...kinda blindly...and connected."

"Oh my gosh!"

He shrugged. "It's alright. She wasn't thinking about it. She was just reacting. She's got a lot going on up stairs right now. I'm not liable to hold much against her at the moment."

"This is bad."

"Yes. It is." he agreed. "Because what I'm afraid of, is that she's going to come out of this rock hard and mad at the world. People are dangerous when they have nothing to live for."

"So what do we do?" Edith asked carefully.

"Make sure she has something."

"And how do we do that?"

"I'm working on it." he said softly.


	4. Chapter 4

**A/N: I do not own CSI Miami or any of it's characters, affiliates...etc. This is just my imagination running with it! I hope you all enjoy!**

**Chapter Four**

**I've Seen This Before**

Getting back in the Hummer, he looked at his counter. "You want something to eat?"

Nodding, she realized she was starved. "I could kill someone for a steak right now."

Grinning lightly, he pulled away from the curb. "You're really taking to the kid."

"We're family." she shrugged.

"I think it's more than that." and he studied her, continuing. "It's not a bad thing, I just want you to be careful. You know as well as I do from personal experience, getting too involved can get sticky."

She nodded, looking into the back seat, where the girl...her cousin...had been a few minutes before. Shrugging, she finally looked into the understanding eyes of her superior. "I can't help it." she murmured softly.

Reaching out and taking her hand, he smiled softly. "I know."

She smiled at him, then looked away as he started the Hummer. What was it about this girl that made her simply want to just...take care of her? It was frustrating as well as almost nice, to feel needed, and to know that she responded to her when she didn't really respond to anyone else. Well, except for Horatio. But to be honest, there wasn't very many people on the planet that wouldn't respond to Horatio. Taking a deep breath and looking out the window, she decided to get herself out of the funk. Sort of. "I think her biological mother did it."

He studied her. "Why?"

"Hunch? I'm not sure yet. And that's frustrating me more than anything."

He nodded. "Me too."

"You too what?"

"I think her biological mother did it, and I'm frustrated that I can't figure out why."

She took a deep breath. "There's this part of me that wants to scream and yell and get my hands on the person who did this, no matter who it is."

He smiled a bit. "Me too."

"So what now? Were you serious about giving her something? And for that matter, what?"

"A reason to hang on. Right now, she doesn't have anything, and her birth mother is a suspect. She needs something good. She needs something she can believe in. Someone she can believe in." then he took in her worried gaze. "It's alright." he said, squeezing her hands. "We'll figure it out."

She looked away. "I hope so."

They ate and it was the next morning when Horatio was called once again. "Edith. What's wrong?"

"I can't find her. I swear this girl is beginning to be more trouble than she's worth."

"Don't worry. I'll see if I can come up with something and call you back. Alright?"

Natalia was coming around the corner. "She's missing again?"

"Yeah. How did you..."

"There's this look, you get on your face, when the little guy is in trouble. She's been taking up just about all of our energy lately so..."

"Well yes. She is missing. Edith said that all of her stuff is still there, so she doesn't think that it's a permanent situation, but she doesn't want to risk that Casey's going to get herself in trouble."

She inhaled deeply through her nose, looking up. "H?"

He turned to see where she was looking to see the girl on the elevator that had opened, heading down. "Oh no."

Running, they both got to the elevator shaft too late as it started down. Hitting the steps, they took them all the way to the morgue, and found her about to go into the double doors. "Casey!" She stopped before touching the door to push it open. "Sweetheart, they're not in there."

She stopped and turned, looking up at him, pain filled eyes.

"He's right Casey. They've been turned over. Edith was coming up stairs to tell you that they're doing the ceremony tomorrow, when she realized you'd already left."

Watery eyes stared back at her.

The kid was losing weight. "Why don't you let me take you somewhere to eat, honey."

It wasn't much of a question, and she would barely eat anyway. She didn't feel like eating dammit! Her mom cooked the best food in the world. And she was never going to have it again. The woman...her name was Natalia she remembered, offered her hand toward her. Staring at her for a moment, she took it and let them lead her out of the basement.

She noticed as the girl didn't do much eating. She'd had no idea what to order her so it was a simple burger and fries. She'd taken a small bite of the burger, and had eaten a couple of fries but that was it. When they asked her if she wanted a box, she closed her eyes and finally shook her head.

Damn he wished the kid would at least say something. Looking at her now, it was impossible to know that there were a million thoughts going through her head and there was no way to know what any of them were. Sure he could guess a few of them, but he still didn't know for sure.

She walked with them to the Hummer, got in and followed them into the house. The woman, Edith, was really nice and really sweet, but she almost seemed like she was trying too hard not to try. That was what bothered her about this foster. That and she simply resented the fact of being a foster in the first place, which didn't help matters. She'd had a family! Dammit she'd had a life. She was going to figure out who had done this to her, though sadly, she figured she had a pretty good idea.

* * *

She was surprised to see so many people show up to the funeral. There were a few people she knew, a lot more that she didn't. She had to admit she was glad that Natalia and Horatio were there.

He noticed that she stood behind him and Natalia both, and stayed closer to her than him, but still behind. She didn't say a word. Didn't shed a tear. Didn't have any emotion at all behind her intent stare at the head stones, which had apparently at one point been picked and engraved, outside of the date of death.

People would come up to offer condolences and she tucked herself farther in behind Natalia if that was even possible. She didn't want to be there. She didn't want these people feeling sorry for her, and telling her they wished it could be different. She didn't care. None of it mattered. Her world had been taken out from under he feet and she was struggling to keep from flying away.

She felt a hand on her shoulder and she inhaled sharply as she jumped a little. "Casey? Everyone's gone. Are you ready to head home?"

Staring up into the womans eyes, she barely blinked and turned away from her, walking to the silver colored vehicle, after realizing she was right. There was no one around. Everyone except for the people who were now filling the graves with dirt, were there. She blinked away a couple of tears and simply shut herself down, staring out the window the entire ride.

She was still staring when he shut the Hummer's engine off and turned toward her. "Hey sweetheart." he said softly. "We're back."

Recognition hitting her expression, she stopped for a moment, looking at her surroundings, then stepped onto the paved driveway. Edith had said before that she seemed like she was on autopilot. She was right. That's exactly what it was. He walked around the front of the truck and reached for her arm as she came around to get to the steps to the door. "Here. Let me help."

She turned and looked at him, but said nothing. What could she say? Everything had happened and she hadn't even cried. She had cried, but not for her parents. For all the stuff she'd been feeling. And that had been incredibly selfish on her part. What in the hell was wrong with her? Her parent's, had given their lives for her. And she couldn't even cry for them. She was pitiful. She was worse than that. She was scum. Able to cry for herself, and for what she was going through, but unable to shed a tear for them. Walking up to her room, she left them there to discuss amongst themselves.

"Thanks for bringing her back." Edith said softly.

H glanced at Natalia and then to the woman in front of him, just before looking at the steps. He shook his head. "Honestly, I don't know if she even realizes where she is right now."

"You're really worried about her?"

He nodded. "I've seen this before. And it's not a good thing when it gets to the end. She's shutting down. If she gives up..." and he shook his head. Turning to his counter, he put his hand on her shoulder. "Why don't you go up there and talk to her? See if you can get any type of response."

She nodded and did so. Coming back into the kitchen a half an hour later, she shook her head, her expression troubled. He could see the tears threatening behind her lids. "We're going to head back to the lab for a little bit. I have a couple more tests I need to run. Call us if there's any change or anything comes up."

Edith nodded. "I will. Thank you."


	5. Chapter 5

**A/N: I do not own CSI Miami or any of it's characters, affiliates...etc. This is just my imagination running with it! I hope you all enjoy!**

**Chapter Five**

**You Cant Make a Connection With All of Them**

Taking a deep breath and blinking rapidly, she got up from the bed and got into her jeans. Everyone kept telling her that they were going to find out what happened to her parents but she knew the truth. Deep down, she knew what the facts were, even though she didn't want to face them. And it wasn't that she didn't want to, it was that she didn't want to be right.

But she had to find out. She had to know for sure what the truth really was. Opening her window as she'd done the day before, she climbed down the trellis and she started walking. She didn't want to, but she knew where to go. It was going to take her a few hours to get there, but she still knew where to find her.

Walking through the streets, it took her almost six hours to find her mother. When she did, it had been where she thought, in a dirty bar, looking to score some kind of drug. She stepped up beside the woman and didn't say a word as she walked out of the establishment and into the ally beside it. It was getting dark finally, and a small part of her was glad that the sun stayed out so long.

The woman followed her into the blocked passage. Looking much like her daughter with a few differences, she showed complete indifference when it came to her emotion concerning the one thing that should have been more important than all of them. "What? What do you want from me?"

"How could you do it?" she asked, speaking for the first time since finding her parents. "That's all I want. One question. How could you do that to me?"

"Don't you get it? I did it for you! It was all for you!"

"This has never been about me! If it was about me even a little bit, you would have left me alone! But you didn't! And now my mom and dad..."

"I'm your mom!"

Angry, she looked at the woman, detesting what she stood for. "You're an egg donor! Nothing more!"

Her biological mother reached up and slapped her face! "You little bitch! You should do us both a favor and just kill yourself! You could have saved them! All you had to do was just talk to me. That was all I wanted. Just for you to be a part of my life. But every time I tried, you simply denied me any contact at all. You made them hate me!"

"You did that all on your own! Don't put that shit on me! You abandoned me! You beat me! You were the one that let them take me away. Then I found love! And you hated that, didn't you? You couldn't stand that I was being cared for by someone else, because you couldn't do it yourself."

She slapped her again. "You did this! It's your fault they're dead! Die!" and she turned around, leaving her standing there in silence. Turning around, she walked on weak legs toward the building across the street. The alley way was so dank and dark, and she didn't want to be in there any longer. Dark didn't mater. Inky and nasty, bothered her.

She pulled the cash out of her pocket and walked toward a car that had just pulled up. Souped up muscle car, kid had a couple of buddies in the car. Walking up to him, she handed him fifty bucks. "You can keep the change if you'll get me a jar of moonshine."

Looking at the money now in his hand, he turned and looked at the guys in the car. "You for real? You ain't no cop or cop wanna be are you?"

"Nope. Just someone who needs to drown herself away for a while."

He studied her. She was serious, he realized. Shrugging, he stuffed the fifty dollar bill in his pocket and disappeared, coming back out a few minutes later. He handed her the brown paper sack with the pint jar of clear liquid.

"Thanks." she said softly.

"Nice doin' business with ya." and he got inside the car. "Tonight's on her!" and they whooped as he started the car excitedly. Stopping before he took off he rolled his window down. "Looking for a party?"

Shaking her head no, she smiled sadly. "No, but will you drive me to a cemetery about a mile from here?"

Thinking about it, he nodded, got out of his seat, pushed his seat forward and told her to get in.

It was four hours later when headlights crested the hill top. He found her sitting there, with her knees against her chest, an empty glass at her feet. "Casey?"

She didn't make a move toward acknowledging he was there.

Staring at her, he let his breath out slowly. "I know how you feel." realizing that she was in between her parent's plots.

She was staring. She'd finally stopped shivering and damn it was hard to keep her eyes open. But she was. "I'm so sick of people, telling me they know how I feel. No body knows how I feel. You don't know how I feel!"

Amazed to hear what her voice sounded like for the first time, he wished he could have heard it before. Before she was slurring and intoxicated. There was nothing but anguish behind the words. "Casey, I..."

"I don't care." she whispered.

"That's not true. I know you better than that."

"Then you don't know anything." she spouted back, angry.

"I know you're angry."

"Angry?"

"And I'm sure you're probably..."

"How dare you assume anything about me!" she would stand if she could. She shouldn't have drank that entire pint. She'd never drank before and it had upset her stomach slightly earlier. But now she was just numb.

"I'm taking you home. Come on."

"I am home." and she held her breath as tears started to fall. "They say home is where your heart is." she said softly. Then, as if all of the fight left her body, she looked like she simply deflated. "Just leave me alone."

"I can't do it sweetheart. It's not in my nature. It's not in Natalia's either." he said, hoping he could get something positive out of her. He knew that Natalia had been able to reach her when no one else had, himself included.

Scooting on her butt, a little closer to the head stones, she laid flat on her back on the ground, that had finally started to settle, crossing her legs, putting her arms behind her head and looked up into the sky. She was glad that she didn't feel the need to get sick, or the cold any more. She looked at the man standing there beside her, as he and her world, spun around her endlessly. He glanced down at her, and she was amazed that she could see his eyes, and how blue they were in that moment. Not stopping the tears that were running from the corners of her eyes, she took a deep breath again, surprised at how shallow it seemed. "No one knows how I feel. It's beyond everyone's comprehension."

"You know," he started softly, "I used to feel that way right after my father killed my mother."

She shrugged. "This is different."

"Is it?"

Her chin quivering slightly, she nodded. "You survived it." she whispered softly, giving up. "I ran into her you know. My mom?" her eyes blinking lazily.

He gazed down at her as she laughed sadly.

"She actually admitted to me that she'd done it. She said she did it for me. And that it was my fault, because I refused to see her or talk to her when she tried. Do you think she was right?"

"No." he replied calmly.

She swallowed. "Then she called me a bitch. Maybe she was right. Am I a bitch?"

"No, sweetheart. Far from." he answered again, softly. Dropping to a knee this time, he cocked his head to one side as he gazed at her face.

She seemed to ponder that for a moment. He saw her expression change as her mind wandered. "Then I told her that she was nothing more than an egg donor." Her eyes closed as she shook her head slowly back and forth before opening them again. "Maybe I shouldn't have said that. It was really mean. But she should have left me alone. I was happy." then she paused. "I was happy." she repeated softer yet. "She told me I should do us both a favor and kill myself." She inhaled as a few more tears fell. Then her voice was weaker. "She might have been right about that one."

The expression in her eyes continued to worry him. Glancing back at what he now realized was a mason jar, he grabbed it and looked at the label. It was a hundred and twenty five proof. Which meant it was roughly sixty two percent alcohol. About as high as you could get alcohol content legally. Getting a sick feeling in his stomach, he set it down. "Casey, did you drink this whole thing?"

Looking up at him, she blinked. "She told me to die. That was the last thing she said to me. One word. Die. She was supposed to love me. She was supposed to be the one person on this world who loved me more than anyone. Maybe I don't deserve it. Maybe that's why my family was taken away from me." Then as if even possible, her voice grew weaker. "Maybe it was because I didn't appreciate what I had before."

"Sweetheart, where did you get this?"

Closing her eyes, she breathed in. "Does it matter?"

"Very much." he said, growing more and more concerned. He touched her arm. She was freezing. "Casey?" he touched her face and it was equally as cold. Running his hands under her neck, he was scared when he felt with one hand behind her neck and another on her stomach, just under her shirt, knowing that both, should have been the warmest places on her body, and they were equally as cold as the rest of her. Even her tears seemed cold. "Casey?" he repeated with a little more authority.

Her eyes were still closed. "Hmmm?" she responded barely.

"Sweetheart, how much did you have to drink?"

Tears rolling, she opened her eyes briefly. "You've always been so nice. Your eyes are so warm. Why have you always been so nice? You and Natalia..." and her eyes closed again as her voice started to float.

"Casey, come on honey. Talk to me. How much did you drink?"

"Enough to do the job." she whispered softly, before her world faded out and her body went lax.

Leaning over her, he pulled out his phone, calling for help. It was less than a minute before an ambulance was there and EMT's were working on her. That's when the people's voices started blurring together.

"There is no radial pulse."

"Respiratory functions minimal."

"Heart rate...forty six. BP is...jeez...sixty four over forty. We've got to get her warmed up. Come on kid! Call in and tell them we have alcohol poisoning and hypothermic. Needing a low temperature thermometer, not reading on the standard."

"Ten four."

"Suffering from alcohol poisoning. Also hypoglycemic. Blood sugar is thirty eight."

"Understood."

"Suggesting active core rewarming upon arrival. ETA less than one minute."

They pulled up and an entire team of people rushed around her and she disappeared through the double doors as Horatio stood back and waited. Calling Natalia, she was beside him in fifteen minutes, and took in his worried expression.

This was more than just worry for Casey though. Something else was wrong. Grabbing his arm, she turned him. "Edith will be here in a little bit. What is it? What's really wrong?"

He took a deep breath. "Have you ever heard the theory that you can't make someone live if they don't want to?"

She nodded.

"She talked. She told me, before losing consciousness, that she'd run into her biological mother. That she admitted to killing her adoptive parents and had told her that she should do them both a favor and commit suicide."

"Oh God." she whispered.

He stared at the door. "I don't know if she's going to make it Natalia. I don't know if she wants to."

Unable to stop the need, she leaned in when he offered it and hugged him close, taking comfort where she could get it, while he stood there. "I should have told her she was family. Maybe then, she would have something to hold onto."

"Don't, sweetheart. Don't you dare blame yourself for any of this. She's been running down a dark road since her parents were murdered. There is nothing either of us could have done to prevent this."

Shaking almost violently with anger, she gripped his jacket. "I'm going to kill her mother if I get my hands on her."

Wrapping his arms around her as she held tight, he laid his chin on the top of her head. "I understand. You'll probably have to stand in line, but I understand."

She looked up at him and smiled, letting go and sitting down. All they could do from here, was wait. So they did. Edith was there within thirty minutes and it was two hours before a doctor appeared.

"Are you here for Casey Colter?"

"Yes." Horatio, Natalia and Edith said in unison.

"Her core temperature when she came in was eighty eight degrees. That's about as bad as it gets before brain damage. We did what's known as extracorporeal rewarming which means we essentially pumped all of her blood out of her body, ran it through a heart lung machine warming it up, and pumped it back in. It's an aggressive form of rewarming her core, but it's what she needed, and seems to have worked. Her temperature is back up to ninety-six, so she's still got just a little way to go, but she's not in danger there. Her heart rate and blood pressure are still extremely low, but we're keeping an eye on it. We pumped her stomach, pulled out a lot of alcohol. She hasn't been eating a lot the last couple of days so there wasn't much outside of liquid. She's still on warm oxygen with a tracheal tube to make sure we maintain her temperature as best as we can until all of the alcohol is out of her system, as well as regulate her breathing since she's still not doing a great job on her own. We were able to regulate her blood sugar, without any apparent after affects thankfully. She has yet to regain consciousness which worries me slightly, I'm not going to lie. We'll just have to wait and see if she gets better. I have no idea how much she actually absorbed into her system before you got to her. Her blood alcohol level was point three six."

"How bad is that?" Edith asked from behind them.

Horatio turned. "Point four zero is fatal."

She inhaled sharply, putting her hand to her lips.

"Can we see her?"

"Yes, but one at a time."

Natalia stepped forward. "If it's okay..."

Horatio nodded and Edith stepped forward taking her hand. "Go. She responds more to you two, than she ever has me." and they watched the two of them disappear.

"It's probably because they're family." H said, trying to keep the woman from feeling bad.

"Oh heavens honey, I've done this long enough to know that you can't make a connection to all of them. Hell sometimes they refuse to make a connection to anyone. But she has. With you and your partner in there. And I am not one to discourage any kind of connection. Lord knows with these kids, you've got to take what you can get. I just hope she decides she wants to make it. The last few days have shown me that she doesn't have much resolve for living. I told you before they sent difficult kids to me because of what I went through, but this is way worse than anything I went through."

Nodding in understanding he half smiled. "I feel the same way. I'm very out of my league here. I thought having my father kill my mother would give me some insight. But this goes farther than anything I've ever experienced."

Nodding she looked up at him. "I'm doing no good here, and honestly, she's not going to want me when she wakes up. Which is fine, and I understand it, even if I don't like it. But all things considered, I'm going to head home. You call me if there's any change?"

He nodded. "I definitely will." and he watched her disappear in the elevators, frankly grateful that she wasn't going to throw a fit because the kid didn't make a direct connection with her. Honestly, there had been a few moments when he waited for Natalia to tell him that she wanted to move the kid in with her. Hell he still waited for it.

Making his way down the hall, even knowing he couldn't go into the room, he stepped outside and watched as his subordinate sat beside her, holding her hand and talking to her. There was an almost...affection, in his gaze toward the both of them. Then as soon as that thought was out, he shook his head. What in the hell was he thinking?


	6. Chapter 6

**A/N: I do not own CSI Miami or any of it's characters, affiliates...etc. This is just my imagination running with it! I hope you all enjoy!**

**Chapter Six**

**Glad I Finally Did**

Staring at the kid, she could almost see the family resemblance. Taking a breath, careful to hold the shakiness back, she talked. "Casey? It's Natalia again. You need to hang in there. There's something I've been kind of keeping from you, but you should know." and she took a deep breath, watching as the monitors remained exactly as they were. "You're actually my second cousin. By blood. Your mom was my Uncle's daughter. But I never knew her because we never got together."

There was nothing in a reaction. Part of her wondered if she was actually hearing her or if what everyone said about people being in the hospital hearing you, was bull.

"You're still freezing Casey. You need to warm up and stick around. I'm sorry about what happened to your family and why, but please don't give up. Don't listen to your mother. She didn't know what she was talking about. You have so much to live for."

Looking out at the man standing just beyond the window, she placed the girls hand back down on the mattress and stepped out for a second. Taking a deep breath, she turned, looking at her laying there. "I want her with me when this is all done."

There it was. A part of him smiled about it. Keeping it back, he nodded his head.

"I also want first crack at her mother."

"Natalia, you can't."

"That's bull crap." she seethed angrily. Then she turned to him, folding her arms across her chest. "I'm out of the game. Because she's my family."

Nodding again, he looked at the kid in the bed. "Try to get some rest Natalia. You're going to need it. She's got a long fight."

She nodded and felt his hand on her shoulder. "I know she does. And I'm not going to leave her side this time."

He considered her words. "Don't blame yourself."

She took a deep breath and said nothing as she walked back into the room sitting down beside the hospital bed. Watching her now, he could see the guilt surrounding her entire demeanor. Come on kid. If you don't make it, I don't know what it's going to do to her.

Strolling out of the hospital and into the streets, he took a wild guess and started patrolling the streets around the graveyard. Chances were good that she got the alcohol locally and probably walked there. So he started close. Walking into the first liquor store he was met with apprehension. Stepping up to the counter and flashing his badge attached to his hip, he studied the man. "Have you sold any of these jars tonight?"

Nodding swiftly, he answered hesitating. "Two. One to a bunch of college kids around seven and one a few minutes ago to an old couple."

"The college kids, did you card them?"

"It was just one, but yes of course. He was twenty two. Said he had a few buddies in the car, they were going to a frat party."

"Did you get him on camera?" he glanced at the security set up.

Shaking his head he admitted softly, "It doesn't record. It just shows me live feed here on my screen so I can watch when someone comes in and where they are."

Nodding a bit in disappointment, he said thanks.

"Wait a minute." he said gently. "I do have a camera out in the parking lot. And it does record. If he was in the back part of the lot, he could have been caught back there. I keep it on in case someone tries to break in the back door." and he spun, bringing up the feed on his television. Rewinding back to as close to time as he could remember selling the alcohol, he found where the guy had gotten out of his vehicle and rewound the tape to right before it pulled up.

Getting a sick feeling, he watched as a small figure entered the screen just after the sports car showed up. Unable to see his face from the hat and no real distinguishing marks on his car, he saw Casey give him a fifty dollar bill, him disappear, come back into view with a brown paper sack and give her the jar.

"I swear I didn't know he was going to give it to someone underaged."

Shaking his head dismissively he nodded. "I know. She's smart." and he kept watching as he backed his car out, said something out the window to her and saw her climb in the back of his Mustang. That was how she'd gotten there. She'd still had to have been walking the whole time to get there. They were almost fifteen miles from the house and no one had seen Casey since they'd gotten home from the funeral. There were a lot of things that had gone wrong.

They should have stayed instead of going back to the lab. Edith should have checked on her way before she had. He should have known she would go to her parent's plots. He remembered spending a lot of time at his mom's after she died. Thanking the store owner, he walked out and looked around him.

Surveying the area and remembering from which angle the kid had appeared in the camera, he walked across the street to the bar that was sort of in the same direction. She had said she'd talked to her biological mother. It was a good bet it was somewhere close they'd had their conversation. Walking in he looked at the bar tender. It was too crowded to waste time looking for the woman. He hid his badge and gun for the moment. "I'm looking for Deborah Hammond."

"Hey Deb!" he screamed across the establishment. Focusing his attention back to the red head in front of him, he smiled. "She's been busy tonight. Lots of customers."

Not saying a word, he turned toward the woman as she made her way toward them.

Letting out a heavy sigh, her shoulders sank. "What do you want, cop? I already told you everything I had to say about the Colter's."

"Why don't we step outside for a minute."

"You and my daughter. Who else is going to take me away from this place tonight?"

She was clearly high and not thinking clearly at all. Which admittedly made it all the more easy for him to question her. "It's funny you should mention your daughter. When did she stop by?"

She shrugged. "Just before dark. Six thirty maybe? Why?"

"Did you guys have a fight?"

Laughing, she kept a smile on her face as she answered. "You could say that. I slapped her when she called me a name, and then we went our separate ways."

"She says you admitted to her that you killed the Colter's for her." and he watched all the color drain from her face.

"She's lying."

"She says that you told her all she had to do was talk to you and she could have prevented it."

"She called me an egg donor. She said that I wasn't her mom. She said that I was jealous because she found love. Can you imagine?"

"She was removed from your custody when she was two because of abuse and neglect."

"That was a misunderstanding."

"From the pictures in her file, it wasn't much of one."

"What do you know anyway?"

"Here's what I think. I think Casey told me the truth about you admitting to doing it. And I think she was right. You were jealous of her parents and not being a part of it."

"She told you an awful lot." she spouted sardonically. "Where is she now? You can ask her again what was said."

"That's going to be a problem. Apparently during part of this fight, you told her to kill herself and then to die."

"I...I was just...mad. I didn't mean it."

"Too bad she didn't know that."

"What do you mean?"

Glad he had called for back-up and they were pulling in, he nodded to the officer behind her. "Deborah Hammond, you're under arrest. You have the right to remain silent..." and he read her Miranda Rights while the officer cuffed her.

Hoping he didn't regret it, he sent a text to Natalia, letting her know that Deborah had been arrested and was at the police station. Walking into the interrogation room, he sat down and slid a folder across the table.

"We've got you at the scene, we've got you admitting to your daughter to doing it, all we need is the murder weapon."

"Well, if my daughter's dead, the you've got nothing. You just said all you have is proof that I was there. No murder weapon, and the word of a dead girl."

Stepping back to study the woman, he nodded lightly. Glancing up, he saw Natalia standing in the hallway. He looked at the woman and backed out of the way, unplugging the camera on the wall. "I'll be right back." and he stepped out of the room.

Looking at his subordinate, he breathed out, folding his hands in front of him. "You know, that I can't let you in there. You can only observe." and he saw her eyes fall to the floor before he continued. "In an official capacity." Then he stepped closer. "Off the record though...I'm going to give her a few moments of free time, to think on things." and he shrugged. "What happens in that time isn't recorded." and he walked away.

Stepping into the room, looking at the woman with distaste, she shook her head.

"Who the hell are you!?" she asked irritated.

"Your worst nightmare." Natalia spit back.

The woman shrank back for a moment, seeing the ire in her eyes. "What...what do you want?" she asked shakily this time.

"It would seem that you like to throw words out at people, without worrying about any ramifications that might come from it."

She huffed out. "You must be talking about Casey."

"You would know."

"She's family. You wouldn't understand."

"You know...family is a funny thing. Did you know I had an uncle once?"

"Why would I know anything about your family?" she asked indignantly.

"Because my uncle, was your father." and she watched as realization hit. Keeping her cool until that point, she watched as the woman simply shrugged it off.

Reaching across the table and grabbing the woman by the collar of her shirt, she pulled her across and on top of the interrogation table in there and got right in her face. "You're nothing. And I hope your daughter lives, just to watch you die."

"You have no clue what I'm capable of."

"You don't know what I'm capable of either." she said, menace lacing her voice. "I hope you get the death penalty." and she let go of her shirt.

That seemed to have shaken the woman even more than she had been before. "Death...death penalty?"

"Oh yeah. Two counts of pre-meditated murder and one count of right now attempted murder."

"If Casey's not dead then..."

"It's attempted murder. I pray for her sake that it remains attempted."

"I didn't touch her."

"No. You made her..." and she stopped as her superior stepped into her view. Straightening herself, she looked at the woman and shook her head, before walking out.

He could see her visibly shaken from the encounter. Putting both hands on her shoulders, he nodded lightly, squeezing almost lovingly. "Go take care of her. I've got this." and he took in her expression.

* * *

Taking the girls hand back in her own, Natalia sat beside the bed in the chair in the room. She'd come back from where she'd been shaking before and had calmed considerably.

"Hey Casey. I'm back. In case you didn't know I had left. I told you earlier, but I'm not sure if you heard me or not. Turns out someone was at the police station and I needed to interrogate them. But all worked out okay. I've got it situated. And it may not seem like this now, but you're safe. Horatio and I...we got them. We got the bad guy."

Unconscious of how she did it, she heard the woman, and squeezed her hand.

"Casey?"

She squeezed again.

"That's it sweetie. Can you open your eyes for me?"

There was another tiny squeeze.

Natalia noticed her eyes were moving beneath her lids. "That's it Casey. Come on."

After a couple of more minutes of coaxing, her eyes did barely open. There was recognition and almost instant tears that sprang to her eyes.

"Hey there. Welcome back."

She closed her eyes and opened them again when she realized she wasn't breathing on her own. She squeezed her eyes shut for a second.

"Easy Casey. They have you on warm oxygen. You were having trouble breathing. I'll get someone in here to get the tube out, okay?"

Her eyes screamed in fear. The one time she wanted to talk to this woman, and she couldn't.

She noticed the tears dripping down her face and she reached up and wiped them gently. "It's alright Casey. You're okay. I'm here. I won't let anything happen to you."

Nodding softly, she leaned back and closed her eyes, still not letting go of the brunettes hand in hers. It was about ten minutes later when the nurse had removed the breather and she was able to breath with a little help from a nasal cannula.

Opening her eyes again, she opened her mouth to speak.

"Don't try to talk sweetie."

"My...my mom..." she mouthed.

"Your mom is in custody."

"Really?" she asked, still not speaking.

She nodded. "I'm waiting on Horatio to text me at any moment and tell me that she's been put through the system for her arrest."

There was a small knock on the door and the redhead stepped in. Natalia smiled sweetly. "Speak of the devil."

He stepped closer to the side of the bed. "Hi sweetheart."

She smiled back and leaned her head back on the pillow.

"She's not able to talk and the doctor said she's going to be pretty weak for the next few days, but she's hanging in there."

"I see that." he said softly. "So, talking about me were you?" and he winked at the kid in the bed.

"She asked about her mom. I told her I was waiting to hear from you about her arrest."

"Indeed. We got a confession. You wont even need to testify." and he watched as it was if a thousand pounds was lifted off the girl in that one instant. "It's alright sweetheart. You're safe now. The worst is over. The only way to go from here is up. Okay?"

Nodding softly, she mouthed the words "Thank you" and squeezed Natalia's hand once more before falling asleep.

* * *

It was almost six weeks later when she was looking around at her new arrangement. Natalia had stuck true to her word and had moved the girl in with her and she honestly couldn't have been happier to know she had real family. And they all loved her.

She smiled as she grabbed a glass of iced tea and sat down on the balcony of Natalia's back porch. "How was school today?"

She smiled at her second cousin and nodded. "It was good. I think I have a date."

"Really?" she said smiling. "With who?"

"Would you believe me if I told you it was the guy I beat up?"

"Seriously?"

Smiling, she nodded. "I'm kind of scared. I've never really been on a date before."

"Never?"

She shrugged. "There was one time, but he was more of a friend than someone interested in me."

"Well, that's it. We're going shopping."

"What?"

"Oh yeah. We're going shopping. When is your date?"

"Um...Fri...Friday? I think?"

"You think?"

"Well we haven't solidified anything yet so..."

"Oh, yeah. We're going shopping tomorrow as soon as I get off work."

Casey giggled.

"It's really nice to hear your voice."

Her expression sobered as she looked up at her. "Really?"

She nodded. "For a long time there, I wondered if I ever would. I'm glad I finally did."

Smiling, she nodded and took a drink of her tea. "I am too."


End file.
